Mage builds
Current as of Patch 2.0.1 (Before The Storm). When choosing a build, a player has to decide what they'll be doing as a mage, and how that playing style fits into their build. In general, a build that complements a player's play style will be better choice than a prefab build. Thus, a player is encouraged to move talent points around to customize a build to their style of play. Cryomancer Frost mages sacrifice the pure damage capabilities of Fire or Arcane mages for survivability and control. The survivability comes from spells such as Ice Block and Ice Barrier, which protect a Frost mage in PvP and PvE encounters. The control is gained from the debuffs of most Frost spells. Frost debuffs usually decrease an opponents attack and movement speed. Frost was once the most predominant PvE/raid build for mages, due to fire-resistant end-game content in Molten Core and Blackwing Lair. New raid dungeons such as Ahn'Qiraj and Naxxramas did not have this limitation, and Fire builds became popular for raiding mages looking for maximum damage potential. Frost is still capable of respectable damage through Winter's Chill, Piercing Ice, Ice Shards and Arctic Winds, while being fairly mana-efficient. For burst damage, the 41-point Summon Water Elemental gives a significant DPS boost for 45 seconds. Frost is very popular in PvP for the increased survivability, through talents such as Ice Block and Ice Barrier. Shatter combined with Frostbite gives excellent burst damage for a quick kill. The water elemental has a second freeze effect like Frost Nova that is cast at range for added control. One of the more advanced techniques for frost mages is AoE grinding. Talents such as Improved Blizzard, Improved Cone of Cold, Permafrost and Ice Floes give the mage tools to kite and kill large groups of mobs for fast cash, loot and experience. Example Frost Builds Deep Frost - 10/0/42 http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=Rf0VZZVAMcof0siot Deep Frost builds are good all-purpose builds. The mage gains the survivability of Frost and can easily handle two or three creatures. The survivability of deep Frost builds make it a solid choice for PvP, but its lack of damage capabilities make it a poor choice for raiding. The build provided includes all of the core talents, and has nine points to be distributed at your discretion. Arcane Meditation is recommendable if you mostly do PvE content, but Shatter, Permafrost and Frostbite are best for PvP, in which case points should be removed from Winter's Chill. PvP Deep Frost - 17/0/44 http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=Ri0VbobZZVAGcobxsrot Drops talents from frost to gain Improved Counterspell which helps to shutdown casters. Raid Frost - http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=oi0Vc0fzxIziZZVi0cor0o This build maximizes damage with Frost with Spell Power and Arcane Instability. Spell Power will increase your damage by about ten percent alone. For this build to shine, however, you need one or more mages in the raid with Winter's Chill to maximize your benefit from Spell Power. AoE Grinding - http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=Rf0VcZZVAMIsfxsbot It is generally accepted that Frost is the better Tree for AoE grinding, due to its slow and root capabilities. To create a successful AoE build Artic Reach, Permafrost and Improved Blizzard are essential. Frostbite is actually detrimental here and should be skipped over, as it has a tendency to split up your tight pack of mobs that is required for AoE grinding. Ice Barrier also helps you from taking any damage as you round up mobs (even hits from mobs below your level will start to add up). Pyromancer Where Frost builds offer control and survivability, Fire builds are the ultimate in damage dealing. From Ignite, which burns your target for additional damage on crits, to Critical Mass and Fire Power which enhance your damage potential, Fire Mages are feared and respected the world (of Warcraft) over. Typical Fire Builds Heavy Fire - 10/48/3 http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=Rf0VZxgMzfcIoeRt0h This is a well-balanced PvE and PvP build, with one point to distribute at your discretion. It can dish out large amounts of damage, and Dragon's Breath and Blast Wave help massively in PvP. However, if your focus is on PvP, it is best to remove points from Playing With Fire and put them into Blazing Speed. Hybrid Arcane/Fire - 33/28/0 http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=ki0Vc0fzLGzbZxg0zfMsoh An extremely devastating Arena PvP build which is only barely beaten by Heavy Fire in PvE environments. There are few enemies which cannot be buried by a critical hit of an instant-cast Pyroblast backed by Arcane Power. PvP Fire - 17/41/3 http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=kf0VfobZVgrzfccReRz Another PvP build. focuses on using scorch for quick criticals. magic attunement and improved counterspell for when you run into casters and arcane impact for when you get up close and personal. Raid/Party Fire - 40/21/0 http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=kV0Eb0czxIziZxgMzcc This build is good for keeping up damage over long periods of time without exhausting your mana supply. The main concept here is to spam scorches until you proc clearcasting, then cast a fireball or PoM Pyroblast. There is a good chance that the spell will score a critical hit, and you will see free mana (Master of the Elements). Arcanist With the addition of several new talents in the Arcane tree, it is now viable to play as a heavily Arcane spec'd Mage. From Empowered Arcane Missiles, which offers a high damage output at the cost of increased mana, to Mind Mastery (Spell Damage increase) and Spell Power (Critical Strike Damage Bonus), the Arcane Mage has truly arrived. Various Arcane Builds Arcane Overload Arcane Overload - 61/0/0 http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=oixAfRfdgIuio Sure to inspire heated debates, this exclusive Arcane build offers heavy damage and amazing utility. Mind Mastery and Spell Power provide more than enough fire power to your Arcane Missiles. In fact, despite the increased mana cost of Empowered Arcane Missiles, with good gear the normally draining Arcane Missiles will actually become considerably MORE mana efficient. Having Arcane Power is icing on the top. Presence of Mind can also be used very creatively in this build to quickly sheep your foe, or to blast out a Fireball (handy for the DOT) or Frostbolt. Typical PvE attack rotation for this would be Arcane Blast, Arcane Blast, Arcane Missiles, Fireblast (using Arcane Missiles whenever Clearcasting procs). By the time you fire off the Fireblast, the Arcane Blast debuff will have disappeared, returning it to its incredibly efficient yet still deadly normal form. With this rotation, combined with Arcane Meditation, Arcane Mind, and Mage Armor, it isn't uncommon for the Arcane Mage to outlast the normally more efficient Fire and Frost Mages. The only major drawback is the lack of Flame Throwing, limiting your range to 20 yards if you intend to use Fireblast, which is very short for a ranged class. Also, the three-minute mage talents, combined with Arcane Blast, make for the deadliest burst damage of any class, any build. Stack the Arcane Blast 3 times, fire off an AP/PoM Fireball, and then blast away with your Arcane Blast. This is, however, a sure way to run yourself out of mana, so try to use it only when necessary, or when already low on mana. PvP Frost PvP Frost - 41/0/20 http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=of0qcofzxIzioZVVG000x This build has been growing more and more popular among mages. With the combination of Shatter and Ice Shards in the frost tree, stacked with Arcane Power and Spell Power, this enables the mage to experience the maximization of all the critical strike bonus talents. While relying heavily on chance and burst damage, this build allows the mage to have close to 100% critical strike chance if used properly. While the target is frozen, you gain 50% critical strike. At level 70, your base critical strike will be around 15-20%. If you are clear casting, you gain 30% critical strike. 50% + 20% + 30% = 100%! Stack that with ZHC and Arcane Power and your enemies will be shattered to pieces! Arena Frost Arena Frost - 33/0/28 http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=oi0qbRbdrhzbZZVVGcobxk This build is currently a very popular build among high rating mages. This build has maximum controlled burst damage with Shatter, Ice Shards, Spell Power and Arcane Power. Ice Block is included and is considered by many mages in arena as required. This is the best build for Arena's. It has great burst damage. Balanced Arcanist Balanced Arcanist - 43/11/7 http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=o0xVsofzgIzioVG0zZMhM All the bonus damage you can get from arcane tree, amazing utility and "3 Minute Mage" talents for those moments when you really need blow up something fast. Variant 3 minute mage Variant 3 minute mage - 31/30/0 http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=ki0Vc0fzLGzbZxg0zfMsoh This varies from the normal 3 minute mage builds in that it tries to be viable for both PvP and PvE (arcane meditation). Few enemies can withstand the "arcane power - pyroblast - PoM - pyroblast - fireblast - blast wave" combo with enough HP left to be a threat. This for the Arena's. Arcane Revolution Arcane Revolution is an unusual spec which uses primarily Scorch, Arcane Blast, and Arcane Missiles. Pyroblast is fit in where possible. The most common rotation used is: Arcane Blast->AB->AB->Arcane Missiles->Scorch->Repeat PoM Pyro is used when able on clearcasts. The mages usually spec 49/12/0. Elementalist Elementalist builds combine Fire and Frost talents, with few or no points in Arcane. These builds were very uncommon before the Patch 1.11 Mage talent review, due to abilities such as Evocation and Improved Arcane Explosion being must-have talents for many mages. Also, Fire and Frost trees didn't have much synergy between the two. With the talent review, talents in each tree were modified to provide this cross-tree synergy, such as Shatter effecting non-frost spells, and new talents Elemental Precision and Master of Elements improving both schools. Evocation was made trainable, and Arcane Explosion made instant, meaning many mages could viably drop the Arcane tree all together. These builds are very effective in PvP, and can see use in Raids as well. Elementalists may want to inform their raid leaders of their build beforehand, since there are unique problems associated with this style in PvE. Many Elementalists tend to focus on one element of the other, often using Fire for DPS and Frost for control and Shatter. A balanced approach offers more versatility, and similar damaging power. Elementalists claim the build requires more skill, especially since helpful abilities from the Arcane tree such as Improved Counterspell and Presence of Mind that see much use in PvP are never present in these builds. Typical Elemental Builds Balanced - 0/24/27 http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=kZVgrzc0coZVAM0obxs This build mixes the survivability of Frost with the burst damage of Fire. A solid PVP or RAID build depending on your personal preference. Fire n Ice - 0/30/21http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=RZEgRz00coxZihMbo0xo Whereas the build above aims to walk the line of surviving and dealing high damage, this build is a PVP machine. Frost is used mainly for Shatter to set up heavy damage via an array of AoE attacks. This template is supreme for burning down multiple foes in rapid fashion. Frost Over Fire - 0/20/41http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=kZVgMzbcZVVG0ofxoiot This build is less for mages who want maximum damage, but great for those who want more survival options. This build will give you the survival capabilities of frost, along with the high damage of pyroblast. This build is more for PvP, because it has a greater use for frostbite. Shatter + Frostbite will make your spells crit a lot when used correctly, and with Master of Elements, that is a lot of mana regained. The extra frost nova from the water elemental only increases this, plus the extra DPS never hurts. There are 4 extra points, two in frost and two in fire if you don't need to increase your range(Flame Throwing and Arctic Reach), but for some end game raid bosses the extra 6 yards can take you out of some of their spells' ranges. See Also For those interested in the numbers behind the build choices: Mage Theorycraft Category:Guides Category:Mages